Malta tops Single Market scoreboard

26.04.2015

It is “quite remarkable” that Malta combines the best score for both the completeness and the compliance of the Single Market directives, according to the European Commission. Malta, one of the smallest members of the European Union, has recovered its usual place at the top of the class.

It is also one of 13 members states who have reached the 0.5% proposed target in transposition of law. The scoreboard aims to give an overview of the practical management of the Single Market. For the Single Market to exist on the ground, it requires an effective governance of the Single Market by the European Commission and by the EU and EEA Member States. According to the scoreboard, there was just one overdue directive – compared to the last report’s where Malta had two overdue directives yet to be implemented. Because of one directive which was not transposed on time, the average delay Malta reports increased to 10.3 months compared with the 3.6 months registered in the last report. However, the Commission said the directive “was now a quite old one”.

Malta once again registered a compliance deficit of 0%, which according to the European Commission was “quite remarkable”. Infringements From 11 cases reported in the last report, pending cases have gone down to nine. On the other hand, the EU average stands at 30 cases. Malta however registered the worst score in the average duration time per case, reaching 50.8 months. The EU average was of 26.9 months. According to the Commission, seven pending cases there were open more than two years ago weighed heavily in the calculation of the duration, “especially since Malta solved a number of quite recent cases”. Malta also performed very well in the Internal Market Information System with almost all requests being accepted within one week.

The improved performance compared very well with the results registered in the last Scoreboard. “Maltese authorities receive few requests from their European counterparts but they take care of them very quickly, which is appreciated by their counterparts,” the European Commission said. Malta did not fare well in the procedural efficiency score of public procurement. The score was unsatisfactory, amongst the bottom three. Overall, between 2009 and 2013, the score was also unsatisfactory but had a decreasing trend. The bidder participation score was average. Overall, the score was also average between 2009 and 2013. The accessibility score was satisfactory, amongst the top three.